1. Technical Field
The present inventions relate to image rendering and, more particularly, relate to image rendering with input devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multi-touch input devices have been introduced during the last few years as computer-controlling replacements for the traditional combination of keyboard and mouse. Today, a touchpad can be found on most portable lap-top and net-top computers, and touchscreens have become popular with smaller mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers. Although more expensive than touchpads, touchscreens have the advantage of being able to precisely select any portion of the display with minimal effort. The user simply touches the screen at the location of interest. Although the same action can be achieved with a touchpad, this becomes more of a trial-and-error process. Typically, the user first moves a pointer to the desired location by moving one finger along the touchpad while viewing the display for visual feedback. Depending on the application software that is running, the pointer may not even be visible until the pad is touched. In some cases, the position may be determined by the location on the pad where the touch is detected, and the user must first touch the screen before knowing the direction in which the pointer needs to be moved. Then once the pointer has been moved to the correct position on the display, the action needs to be completed, typically by removing the finger from the pad and then tapping the pad while insuring that the pointer does not slip away from the chosen spot. In spite of these extra steps, a touchpad may be preferred over a touchscreen in certain cases. In particular, the touchscreen may be the more convenient option when a large display is involved. In such cases, it may be easier, and even faster, to move one or more fingers over a small touchpad than to approach a large screen and apply contact at the appropriate spot. Perhaps the best example of a product which is well-suited for a touchpad interface, and not so well suited for a touchscreen interface, is the multimedia device used to display video in a typical television viewing setting.
Today, the controlling device that is almost invariably used for viewing television is the remote control, typically designed with multiple hard buttons, each mapped to a specific function. Some of the more expensive remote control devices may use programmable buttons, and some of these buttons may even be displayed on a touchscreen display. However, these controllers still behave in the conventional way. When a button is touched it simply triggers the action that it was programmed to perform. There are benefits to replacing the remote control with a touchpad control device, but this may be a matter of personal preference. For example, the viewer who cannot see his remote control, either because he lacks vision-correcting lenses or because the room is simply too dark, may prefer an on-screen menu-driven display with a hand-held touchpad device for control. Another advantage, assuming that the on-screen menus are superimposed over a viewable program, is that the viewer may prefer to keep his eyes focused on the screen while making adjustments. But perhaps the most important advantages of the touchpad device will be realized only after the functions of the television set-top box and the personal computer become integrated into a common multimedia computing device.
Previous attempts to incorporate the more interactive computer-based activities, such as web browsing, into the television viewing environment have met with limited success. This result can probably be attributed to the shortcomings of the user interface. An interface which approximates the traditional keyboard and mouse may not be ideal for a television viewing setting where one or more viewers may be seated comfortably but at a greater distance from the screen. Unfortunately, due to this increased distance, the viewer may have trouble reading the same web pages or documents that would be easily readable if the same images were displayed in a typical computer setting. However, the lack of readability is not the real problem. Instead, the real problem is that the controlling device hardware and the user interface software prevents the viewer from conveniently correcting this and other problems associated with the more interactive computer applications. Such problems are seldom encountered while engaging in the more passive activity of watching television.